The Magnificent Giants of the Ocean A brief exploration into the World of Whales

Updated on November 6th, 2018

Words : Nilu Rajapakse

Whales are marine mammals that live in the open oceans. They belong to the order Cetacea that is believed to have evolved from terrestrial mammals over 50 million years ago. Although their closest living genetic relative is the Hippo, whales cannot survive on land. Their whole lifecycle is spent at sea.
Whales are conscious breathers, so they have to breach the surface to breath in air. This also means that they sleep in a cat-nap style, because while one of their brain hemispheres rest, the other reminds them to continue breathing. Whales spend around 80% of their time in the depths of the ocean, so their behaviour is not very well researched.